Environmental Impact Assessment Decree No.8633 of 2012.

This Decree consisting of 17 articles divided in III Chapters aims at being a tool for predicting and mitigating adverse impacts in projects, describing the various measures that need to be considered in the preliminary Environmental Evaluation of any project. The Decree deals with all the requirements for screening, preparation of the environmental assessment and the supervision of the environmental assessment process including consultation and disclosure. Full authority at this regard is assigned to the Ministry of Environment. Its position regarding an EIA is a pre-requisite for any subsequent license or permit by any other relevant authorities that may be required prior to construction.It requires that the project proponent would hire a national consulting firm, among the pre-qualified consulting firms, to conduct either an EIA study, for a project belonging to a positive list in Annex I, or an Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), belonging to the projects in a positive list in Annex II.In the Annexes the Decree includes the various categories of sub-projects that require EIA and lists the projects that might cause risks and hazards, as follows: Annex I, projects for which an EIA report is required; Annex II, projects for which only an Initial Environment Examination is required; and Annex III, projects for which Environment and Social Assessment report is not required. It also takes into account the sensitivity of the project’s location, stating that projects located in sensitive areas, such as coastal areas or near protected areas, are also subject to environmental assessment.The Decree includes the Environmental Assessment Procedures.The III Chapters are entitled as follows: Preliminary Provisions (I); Stages of the Environmental Impact Assessment of the project (II); and General Provisions (III).